Lesson 1: The Plains Indians Era

Lesson Focus

As American settlers pushed westward, they encountered the nomadic Plains Indians. This lesson explores the clash between these cultures, focusing on the destruction of the Plains Indians' way of life and their determined, but ultimately tragic, resistance.

People to Know

Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph

Learning Objectives

• Describe the nomadic lifestyle of the Plains Indians, centered on the horse and the buffalo, and their unique social structures.
• Explain the key factors that ended the Plains Indians' way of life, including railroads, buffalo slaughter, and forced reservation settlement.

Many Plains nations, including the Sioux and Comanches, were nomadic peoples who followed vast buffalo herds.

The introduction of horses, acquired from the Spanish starting in the 1600s, completely changed their lifestyle. They quickly became expert horsemen, which made them far more efficient at hunting buffalo and better equipped to defend their lands from outsiders. The horse became essential to their culture, economy, and ability to wage war.

To connect the East with California, the U.S. government funded a transcontinental railroad.

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies raced to build it, employing thousands of Irish and Chinese immigrants who laid track at a furious pace.

On May 10, 1869, the two lines met at Promontory Point, Utah, uniting the country by rail. This achievement triggered a massive wave of settlement across the Great Plains, forever changing the West.

The new railroads made the buffalo herds easy targets for hunters.

The train lines split the herds in two, while railroad companies hired hunters to supply meat for workers. Soon, tourists began shooting buffalo from train windows for sport, and professional hunters killed millions for their profitable hides.

By 1886, the buffalo were nearly extinct. Note that this destroyed the main source of food, shelter, and clothing for the Plains Indians, making their traditional lifestyle impossible.

From 1860 to 1890, Plains nations fought to protect their lands from miners and settlers. Leaders like Red Cloud and Sitting Bull led the resistance against the U.S. Army.

Though the Sioux and Cheyenne won a major victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, the army's campaign was relentless. The conflict ended after the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, forcing the survivors onto reservations and ending their resistance.

After the wars, humanitarian pressure led to a change in policy, resulting in the Dawes Act of 1887.

This law aimed to assimilate Native Americans by breaking up reservations and giving each family 160 acres of land to farm. This policy largely failed because it forced a farming lifestyle on nomadic peoples.

As a result, many lost their land to speculators, and the act ultimately did more harm than good by destroying tribal unity.